Mother’s Day: Life lessons from my Mama

A bit of a personal post for this Mother’s day, but what better way to celebrate then to tell you all the wonderful things I’ve learnt from the woman who made me who I am today. For me, my Mum will always be one of the women who inspire me. There are hundreds of funny stories I could tell you about my Mum that I could probably write a short book. But I thought it would be better to share with you all the great lessons she has taught me.

Family first

As with most Mothers, my Mum is one to always put our family first and foremost. She rarely does anything without it having a direct positive impact on family. My Mother moved over to London from the Philippines in the late 70’s. Yet she still speaks to her sister and close relatives back home at least twice a week. She’ll be the first to comment on their Facebook posts to pass congratulations or advice, all to be a part of their life somehow.

My brother and I will be the first to tell you that she would bend over backwards to give us what we wanted. From young children asking for material things to today in our present adult lives and still asking her for support and guidance. She never fails us.

Education is priceless

With both of my parents coming from the Philippines, it’s needless to say that we were brought up to appreciate the importance of education. Luckily, unlike most other Asian parents, they did not force us to take up a career in medicine! In fact, they encouraged both my brother and I to pursue our passions. And as such led us both to pursue creative industries. My brother studied and now works in film production. And I studied music and now work in digital marketing and PR.

To emphasise exactly how much she supported our education, I’d like to highlight that both my brother and I went to private institutions for our degrees. So we didn’t have access to government funding like everyone else. Whilst we worked during our course to help pay for tuition fees, our Mum helped us out a lot by supplying the additional thousands of pounds to pay for our courses.

I know there’s a lot of debate now with the so-called millennial generation, and whether or not our expensive degrees have been a necessity at all. But, I don’t think I would have had it any other way. My Mum always wanted me to have an education, because to her that was a luxury she couldn’t afford growing up. And not forgetting the way her face lit up and she jumped for joy when I went I went up on stage at my graduation. Yes, my Mum will always be my number 1 fan!

Work ethic

I remember growing up, she would fulfil all the traditional housewife duties of cooking, cleaning and ironing. All whilst also working two jobs at over 50 hours a week! A trait that is present in both of my parents and even my Grandparents. My Grandmother also worked multiple jobs even into her later years after she retired. And this wasn’t even down to them needing the money, it was more that they were brought up with positive work ethics and in fact enjoyed the routine and get pleasure from having a job to do.

But the hard work and money my parents earned allowed me and my brother to enjoy so many wonderful things growing up. From the toys, clothes and gadgets we were gifted with, to the countless family holidays and adventures. And, whilst this may be materialistic to some, these also formed memories I will cherish forever.

I guess this is definitely a trait I’ve picked up from them. It has made me appreciate all the hard work they put in to give my brother and I the best life growing up.

Dream big

Going back to my Mother’s younger years when she first moved over to London, she had a lot of ambition. And wanted to achieve great things now being in a country that had so many more opportunities. In fact, her and my Dad launched and ran their own business for a while.

This is partly why I think I’ve always been inspired to do my best at work and have a career to aspire to. And hopefully one day achieve my own dream of starting and running my own company. This is still my biggest dream and I know my Mum would be proud to see that dream come true.

What about your Mum, what life lessons has she taught you? How are you celebrating Mother’s day today?

2 Comments

This was such a lovely post to read. I can definitely relate to some of the things mentioned especially in education and work ethic. My mom continues and will always be my drive to keep going in life, and I would be nowhere without her. Thank you for sharing have a lovely week!